Isnin, 18 Januari 2010

Sunday, January 17, 2010, Malaysia – The third and final qualifying match between KL Dragons and Singapore Slingers took place yesterday at MABA Stadium, Malaysia.

The two teams first met on 22 November at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, where the KL Dragons handed the Singapore Slingers their first home loss of the season, winning the match 84 – 74. The Slingers quickly had their revenge on 11 January when the two teams met again at the same venue, and took the match 92 – 74 against KL Dragons.t

Slinger’s Kyle Jeffers won the jumpball against Dragons’ Jamal Brown but Dragons’ Rudy Lingganay quickly stole the ball and scored a 3 pointer, giving the team an early lead. Two minutes later, Slingers quickly equalized and with four minutes left to the quarter, the Slingers increased their lead to 8 points. KL Dragons upped their game and with two minutes left on the quarter, both teams were neck-in-neck but soon the Dragons pulled ahead ending the quarter with a score of 24 – 18 against the Slingers.

The KL Dragons knowing the importance of today’s match, continued to push hard in the second quarter ending 44 – 31 against Slingers at half time. The Dragons further increased their lead after half time, taking the quarter 66 – 49 against the Slingers.

The Singapore Slingers pushed hard in the fourth quarter, slowly reducing KL Dragons’ lead, but the Dragons still held on tight, and at the final buzzer KL Dragons had won the match 78 – 71 against the Singapore Slingers.

A win here keeps the KL Dragons hopes alive for reaching the playoffs. With just one more match against Satria Muda BritAma at the BritAma Arena Jakarta on 23 January, the KL Dragons will be fighting hard to fend of the Brunei Barracudas and remain in fourth place.